Mini Explorers Play School

A purpose-built log cabin, daily woodland adventures and a partnership with Forestry England give Mini Explorers Play School a clear character. Sence Valley Forest Park in Ibstock is the setting for its outdoor learning, with a covered outdoor area extending play beyond the cabin in wet weather. This is a nursery for families who want woodland exploration to be part of ordinary childhood, rather than an occasional outing.

At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Outstanding, finding highly effective teaching, strong progress and exemplary support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The current age range is 24 to 60 months. Attendance hours can be chosen within the term-time opening window, so the outdoor approach sits alongside a flexible booking model.

Rooms and Ages

Toddlers make daily trips into the forest, generally in the morning, with activities and adult support helping them develop independence. Pre-School combines child-chosen play with adult-guided tasks, placing emphasis on cooperation and understanding the environment. These are different stages of the same practical approach, rather than a move away from outdoor learning as children get older.

The cabin offers free access between indoor and outdoor areas, while the wider environment includes ponds, streams, dens and a vegetable patch. A covered outdoor space gives children somewhere to continue exploring when the weather turns. The physical setting matters: there are opportunities to build, grow and investigate alongside indoor play.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, its learning areas are explored through conversation, stories, physical activity and practical play. Forest School adds daily woodland experiences involving tools, den construction, climbing and learning to judge risks. It is a substantial part of the day.

Children practise handling books and explore writing through chalk, pens and crayons, including purposeful writing outdoors and in role play. Stories, rhymes and conversations also give them opportunities to try new sounds and explain their ideas. For parents, this connects early literacy with activities children already enjoy, rather than treating writing as an isolated task.

Physical activity takes several forms. Dance, gymnastics and yoga sit alongside climbing and lifting; supervised work with scissors, hammers and saws develops control in smaller movements. Cooking groups and gardening add practical experiences of making things and caring for what grows. The curriculum overview explains how these activities fit together.

In September 2025, sensory play included citrus juice, herbs and spiced dough, with staff using these experiences to introduce vocabulary and explain unfamiliar words. Books also accompanied children into the forest. These examples show how conversation and early literacy were woven into practical exploration at that visit.

Outdoor and Community Life

All children explore the outdoor space daily, whatever the weather. Waterproof trousers are supplied, and families send spare clothing and suitable footwear. Forest School sites are close enough to the cabin for children to return to warm up or change; the canopy, garden and allotment extend the approach into the space immediately around it.

In September 2025, children used hammocks between trees and tackled a climbing structure made from ropes. The safety spy role involved spotting hazards for themselves, while staff helped children recall rules and practise responding promptly during woodland games. Risk awareness was something children practised, rather than simply a set of adult instructions.

Regular outings take children to parks and libraries, with a minibus also used for trips and some adventures lasting the whole day. Explorer Bear provides a link with home: families can take the bear on their own adventures, then children share photographs with the group. That gives speaking and listening a personal subject.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key worker, and settling begins with free short sessions arranged around parents' wishes. Information about children's interests helps staff plan activities, making the family's knowledge of the child part of the starting point. A gradual introduction also gives parents and children time to build a relationship with the setting.

Daily handovers cover what children enjoyed and what they found difficult. Class DoJo provides a private channel for photographs and information from nursery and home, while parents' evenings and formal written reports take place twice a year. The combination gives families both everyday detail and opportunities to discuss development more fully.

Parents and children can contribute to the Learning Journey book, which families keep when the child leaves for school. Free parent courses cover play, transition, phonics, and speech and language. These offer practical ways to connect experiences at nursery with what happens at home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described staff identifying learning needs promptly, working with families and other professionals, and adapting support to individual children. Current communication support includes planned programmes for children with speech and language difficulties and support for children learning English as an additional language.

In September 2025, quiet spaces were available both outdoors and indoors, and children could use a buzzer to request help with toileting. Younger children practised positive statements about themselves during group time. These were concrete ways of supporting emotional expression, privacy and growing independence at that visit.

Children bring their own packed lunch; snacks, water and milk are supplied by the nursery. Its lunch policy excludes nuts, chocolate, sweets and fizzy drinks, and it offers to cater for allergies.

Preparation for school includes sharing children's development information with their new teacher and sending a transition report. Schools are offered visits during the summer term, and the nursery also offers follow-up visits after children move on. This is practical continuity between settings, rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Sence Valley Forest Park, Ibstock, Leicestershire, LE67 6NW. Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. Dates follow Leicestershire schools, with bank holiday closures and an effort to align inset days with local schools.

Families choose attendance hours within that window and pay by the hour for private attendance. Hours can be built up gradually, allowing the booking pattern to change as a child becomes more accustomed to nursery. The usual summer holiday club runs for two weeks, from 9am to 3pm, with no minimum booking and advance payment; Mini Explorers children receive booking priority for that club.

To request a place, families complete an interest of enrolment form, obtainable from the cabin or by emailing info@mini-explorers.com. An induction follows when a space becomes available. This is the joining sequence, rather than a statement about current vacancies.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes up to 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds and 15 or 30 hours for three- and four-year-olds, depending on entitlement. Attendance is term-time. Funding forms are part of the welcome pack, and additional private hours are invoiced separately; forms must be returned by the deadline to avoid an invoice for the term.

Forest school activities and adventures carry a separate daily charge. Parents supply nappies, wipes, creams and summer sun cream as part of the equipment children bring. Packed lunches come from home, while snacks and drinks are provided; their provision should not be read as a separate promise about what a funded place includes.

Fees are billed at the start of each term for booked hours, with no credit for non-attendance. A month's notice is required when reducing hours or leaving. The fees and payment terms explain the structure; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Daily outdoor preparation. Woodland exploration continues in all weathers, and children need spare clothes, suitable footwear and seasonal layers. During a visit, discuss how the day would work for your child's comfort and confidence outdoors.
• Term-time hours. The regular opening window ends at 3pm, and the summer holiday club usually covers two weeks. Families needing care beyond these arrangements will need to plan their working pattern accordingly.
• Funding and adventure charges. Additional hours are invoiced, and forest school activities carry a separate daily charge. Ask for a written quotation showing how these apply to your chosen funded and private hours.
• Lunch and allergies. Families provide lunch under a policy excluding nuts and several other foods. Allergy-affected families should confirm current arrangements; visits require no booking, and children may come along to play while visitors remain accompanied.

Mini Explorers suits families choosing shorter or longer attendance within its term-time day, as well as those interested in its summer holiday club. Daily woodland learning, practical tools and strong links between nursery and home give it a clear identity. The Outstanding September 2025 judgement adds substantial weight to that offer. The decision rests on whether its outdoor expectations, 3pm finish and separate adventure charge fit your child and family routine.